Gov’t Showcases Casinos, Indicts Casino Owner on Same Day!

Guess what was showcased in the East Wing of Pennsylvania’s capitol yesterday? On a typical day in the open atrium area, one might see tables representing vocational-technical schools or honoring EMT personnel from around the state. But on this day, it was………ta dah…..Pennsylvania’s casinos and horse racetracks! That’s right, Harrah’s, Mohegan Sun and the other state-sponsored slot machine barns. And it was sponsored by two state agencies: our own Dept. of Agriculture and the Gaming Commission, courtesy of you and me - the taxpayers.

To top it off, don’t miss the irony of my second discovery after leaving the capitol: The news that Mount Airy (Poconos) casino owner Louis DeNaples was indicted for perjury by the Dauphin County D.A. just 3 blocks from the capitol on the same day as gambling was being celebrated at the capitol! He allegedly lied about criminal/mob connections when he was being questioned in the process of obtaining his lucrative gambling license. (His license has now been suspended.)

“May None But Honest and Wise”

Here is a prayer you can use as you pray for elections in 2008. It comes from a letter written by President John Adams, first occupant of the newly-constructed White House. I saw the prayer engraved in a mantle piece inside the East Wing of the White House, and snapped a picture while at the pro-life breakfast and reception January 22nd.

It reads:

I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best of Blessings on This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it May none but Honest and Wise men ever rule under This Roof.

- President John Adams

 

 

March for Life at 35

My daughter Rebekah and I had toe warmers… thankfully… as we participated in the 35^th annual March for Life. It was cold, damp, and at times a freezing rain threatened with a few sprinkles.

We drove down to Washington Monday night so we could attend the Tuesday White House pro-life breakfast (see blog post below), but then we met up with the bus from Rebekah’s school, Covenant Christian Academy, which brought a number of upperclassmen and teachers to the March.

The sheer number of young people participating in the March was a highlight… and something that both speakers and news reporters took note of. Here’s a dispatch from Brett Lieberman of the Harrisburg Patriot News, entitled “Youth Swell Ranks of Abortion Foes” :

Youth Swell Ranks of Abortion Foes — Patriot News

Let me turn Brett Lieberman’s question on you: Why are more young people involved in the pro-life cause today?

Patriot News Reporter Brett Lieberman interviews Covenant Christian Academy Student Gabe Mason.

America is Better Than This

“… The most recent data reports that more than one in five pregnancies end in an abortion. America is better than this.”

With those words, President George W. Bush began to choke up. His chin quivered a bit, and then he pressed onward with his speech, delivered to a group of about 200 pro-life leaders at a White House breakfast Tuesday morning:

So we will continue to work for a culture of life where a woman with an unplanned pregnancy knows there are caring people who will support her; where a pregnant teen can carry her child and complete her education; where the dignity of both the mother and child is honored and cherished. We aspire to build a society where each one of us is welcomed in life and protected in law. We haven’t arrived, but we are making progress.

 

 

America is better than this. Abortion is a terrible blight on this great nation founded on the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence. I too am moved by the thought of the promise of this nation so terribly compromised by this great evil.

President Bush graciously welcomed Nellie Gray, founder of the March for Life, and other pro-life leaders from across the nation to the White House. My daughter Rebekah and I had the honor to attend the breakfast reception and remarks from President Bush.

In speaking with some of the others in attendance, I was told that President Bush wanted to show his appreciation to the pro-life movement and commitment to the cause by holding this event on what would be his last January 22^nd in the White House.

My colleague Curt Smith from the Indiana Family Institute noted with some apprehension the fact that it could be some time before another pro-life event will be held in the White House – of course depending on the results of the November Presidential election. Certainly, who the next occupant of the White House will be should concern everyone who believes in the sanctity of human life.

Well, whatever some might say about President George W. Bush, it was very clear to me as I sat about ten feet away as he said the words above, that he is genuinely disturbed at the taking of innocent human life through abortion, and he truly believes America is better than that. Do you?

 

Read the entire text of President Bush’s comments at the pro-life breakfast at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080122.html

 

Marriage is a Very ‘Public’ Institution!

In response to a provocative Newsweek column called “Yes to Love, No to Marriage,” Dr. Al Mohler has made some important and profound statements about the public purpose of marriage. Below is an excerpt, but you can read or listen to his full radio address here. It’s worth examining since there is much talk out there, mostly from activists who want to re-define marriage, that it should somehow be a private contract that’s none of the government’s business.

Marriage is not primarily about what we as individuals think we want or need. It is about a central public commitment that the society needs, that couples need, that children need, and yes, that the spouses need. Marriage is a public institution, not merely a private commitment. It identifies the couple as a pair committed to lifelong marriage and thus to be respected in this commitment. The fact that our society has weakened marriage offers only further incentive to get it right and to strengthen this vital institution.

To join the effort to save the institution of marriage in Pennsylvania: Get informed and sign up at Pennsylvania for Marriage.

Thoughts to ponder on January 22nd, 35th anniversary of tragic Roe v. Wade decision

  “Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when
some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore
be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide
that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or
infanticide…. There is no cause more important for preserving freedom than
affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning. ” — Ronald Reagan

Does PA really need a constitutional amendment to protect marriage?

Does Pennsylvania need a constitutional amendment to protect marriage from redefinition? Since legislation died in ‘06, much has happened in other states that should put us on notice! And the answer is YES, we need to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment to protect the favored status that our Commonwealth affords to marriage-as-we-know it. And, we need to do it before an activist court forces our elected leaders to elevate gay partners to marriage status as in Massachusetts, Vermont, NJ and now even in the heartland of Iowa!

Take special note of this quote from a State Senate Leader in the Iowa legislature back on Dec. 14, 2005! (from the Quad City Times)
Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs . . . questioned the wisdom of moving forward with a constitutional amendment simply because a lawsuit has been filed. . . . “I’m pretty confident that the court is going to uphold the state law,” Gronstal said.

Of course, we now know that last year county Judge Robert Hanson struck down Iowa’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act (like PA’s) as unconstitutional and ordered Polk County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples!

Contact your state senator and state rep and tell them that NOW is the time to protect marriage in Pennsylvania! For contact info or to read more, go to www.pa4marriage.org

Is Planned Parenthood really worried about PA’s abortion rate?

As if just in time for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (Jan. 19th this year), in a press release headlined “Abortion rate increase highlights need for education,” Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania says that an increase in the latest PA abortion statistics should set off “alarm bells”. . . but wait! This is the same organization whose claim to fame (really, infamy) is that it runs the largest chain of abortion clinics and does the majority of abortions not only in Pennsylvania, but internationally! An analogy would be McDonald’s pretending to lament over its own claim to fame of “Billions Sold”!

What’s really going on here is that the group is continuing its campaign to attack programs that teach teenagers to abstain from sex until marriage, claiming that these good programs are based on “denial and fear.” Ah, but what’s their real beef? Money, of course! They not only want their millions of dollars of Title X and state tax dollars, but they even want the small slice of pie that goes to qualified abstinence education.

Rising abortion rates and birth rates are alarming, but aiding and abetting those who profit and promote abortion and birth control behind parents’ backs is not the solution.

For anyone listening, try these public policies for starters: abstinence education at home and school; requiring parental consent for minors before dispensing birth control, just as PA requires for abortions; cut off taxpayer funding of any organization that performs and promotes abortions; enact commonsense health regulations on all abortion clinics, just as required of medical clinics and hospitals; require abortionists to perform ultrasounds and offer the images to a woman before she consents to abortion. . . Any more ideas out there? Send in your comments on our Blog.

Is Gambling an ‘American Idol’? The PA Lottery is Hoping So

Our government at work? The Pennsylvania Lottery today announced that it will host karaoke events at shopping malls across the commonwealth this month to celebrate the launch of its new American Idol instant game, which goes on sale today. Oh, and the “game” will cost you $5 a pop and that’s not in play money, so don’t look for the state to return any of it to your pocket when you check your losing tickets.
One of dictionary.com’s definitions of the word IDOL is “a mere image or semblance of something, visible but without substance, as a phantom.” With people gambling in the United States to the tune of $80 billion a year, including $3 billion on the Pennsylvania lottery, maybe we should ask: “Is gambling an American idol?”

Why vote? Here are words of wisdom from the 30th POTUS

“Every voter ought not merely to vote, but to vote under the inspiration of a high purpose to serve the nation. It has been calculated that in most elections only about half of them entitled to vote actually exercise their franchise. What is worse, a considerable part of those who neglect to vote do it because of a curious assumption of superiority to this elementary duty of the citizen. They presume to be rather too good, too exclusive, to soil their hands with the work of politics… Popular government is facing one of the difficult phases of the perpetual trial to which it always has been and always will be subjected. It needs the support of every element of patriotism, intelligence and capacity that can be summoned.” —Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States